Hollywood Murders, Accidents, and Other Tragedies

From the mundane to the macabre, the grisly to the gruesome, the shocking and the unexpected, Hollywood has been home to many murders and accidental deaths.  In the five years since The Blackthornes debuted, we’ve seen strangulation by lingerie, ax wielding maniacs, and multiple fatal shootings.  For the five-year anniversary, we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of 21 of the most notorious deaths in the series’ history.  It’s a glitzy spooktacular marathon of mayhem, and with the final season upon us, there’s bound to be one or two more.

1.              Bailey Freeborn  - Season 1

Cause of Death:  Pushed out of a hotel window

Culprit:  Devon Graham

What happened:  Bailey was Brett’s business partner in a phony tour guide operation.  When Brett tried taking off with all of their earnings, they struggled.  Later, Bailey was found dead.  Rather than risk being accused of the crime, he hooked up with the nearest alibi, Miranda Blackthorne, going as far as marrying her in a Vegas casino.  Back in L.A., Brett’s crimes caught up with him and he was arrested for Bailey’s murder.  With help from his then-best-friend, Stormy Blackthorne, he tricked former girlfriend Devon Graham into admitting that she was the cause of the twenty story fall.  Devon had been hiding in the closet during the struggle, and when Brett left, she and Bailey argued, causing him to fall from the window.  Devon was sent to prison for three years and remained there until 2010.         

2.       Will Thomerson  - Season 2

Cause of Death:  Gunshot wound

Culprit:  Heather Rydell

What happened:  Hated by many, Will Thomerson was shot to death in his home on the night of the Filmmaker Awards.  His long list of misdeeds included setting Heather Rydell up in a cruel porn scandal, kidnapping Michael Blackthorne, dishonoring James’s beloved sister Georgie, and blackmailing Alex Reynolds.  Suspects were aplenty, ranging from Brooke, James, Stormy, Jordan, Alex, Heather and many others. Stormy and Brooke were arrested but released due to lack of evidence.  In the end it was Heather who pulled the trigger during a blackout stemming from a brutal car accident thirteen years earlier. 

4.    Joel Armitage  - Season 3

Cause of Death:  Struck by a car

What happened:  When Will Thomerson kidnapped Michael Blackthorne, he gave him to infamous porn director Joel Armitage, whose wife Missy was unable to conceive.   Once Ethan tracked his infant son down, Joel took off on foot and was struck and killed by a car.  Before taking his last breath, he fingered Thomerson as the kidnapper. 

5.   Debralee Scott – Season 3

Cause of Death:   Suicide

What happened:  One of Nathan Blackthorne’s victims in a long line of sexual attacks.  Debralee aided Jordan and James in vying for charges to be dropped against the iconic matinee idol.  But when he was, she confronted him, detailing the emotional misery he inflicted on her, and then shot herself in the head. 

6.    Adrienne Fallmont  - Season 3

Cause of Death:  Strangled

Culprit:  Seth Walker

What happened:  Bored socialite Adrienne Fallmont began a secret affair with Congressman Seth Walker.  Seth used Adrienne for her money, using the funds to finance a gun-running operation.  When Adrienne found out and threatened to tell, Seth broke into her house and strangled her with her own pantyhose. 

7.   Logan Mackenzie – Season 3

Cause of Death:  Car crash

Culprit:  Seth Walker

What happened:  Logan, a geologist working for Seth Walker, found out about a cover up operation Seth was behind.  Rather than risk being implicated in the congressman’s arms deals, he threatened to go to the authorities.  Seth responded by tampering with his brakes and sending him crashing over a guardrail on PCH. 

8.   Leigh Purcell  - Season 3

Cause of Death:  Gunshot wound

Culprit:  Seth Walker

What happened:  The third in the evil Congressman’s list of murders, Leigh got herself in too deep when she aligned herself in an arms deal.  A romance with James Blackthorne complicated matters.  When Seth threatened James’s life, Leigh confronted him.  Seth responded by gunning her down with two bullets to the chest.  James arrived on the scene shortly after and took a bullet to the abdomen.  James survived, but Leigh sadly died from her wounds.

9.   Seth Walker – Season 3

Cause of Death:   Fell from helicopter                

        

What happened:  In the culmination of Seth’s reign of terror, he kidnapped Heather and Alex on the roof of the Los Angeles Theatre during the Filmmaker Awards.  When the helicopter he demanded came to carry him away, he tried leaving with Heather.  Brett intervened, and in the end sent Seth plummeting thirty stories to the ground.    

10.  Frank Dunning – Season 4

Cause of Death:  Earthquake

What happened:  Frank was the Angel Assassin 2 director who had a history with Jordan and Suzanne.  Once obsessed with the missing actress, he blackmailed Jordan with false knowledge that he’d killed his wife.  Frank confronted Jordan in the bar at Hotel Terranova with malicious intent, but was killed by a falling beam when the earthquake hit. 

11.  Ethan Blackthorne – Season 4

Cause of Death:  Earthquake

What happened:  After finally reuniting with his true love, Brooke Taylor, Ethan popped the question and asked his bride to be to leave town with him after Stormy and Kelly’s wedding.  But a call from the sitter sent him home to check on Michael.  Before he could return to his fiancé, the earthquake hit and his car was sucked into a sinkhole.  His body was never recovered, only ashes.

12.  Troy Beauchamp – Season 4

Cause of Death:  Ax to the chest

Culprit:  Suzanne Rogers

What happened:  Troy, Jordan’s half-brother, was emotionally drawn to Suzanne.  He bought a locket with an intimate message engraved on the back and set off to deliver it to her.  When he arrived, however, Suzanne killed him with an ax to the chest.  At the time, she was under hypnotic suggestion administered by Jordan’s rival Victor Distefano.  She thought it was Jordan she was killing.  Jordan stumbled upon the scene and buried Troy’s body where he remained until the earthquake uncovered his decomposed body in 2008. 

13.  Victor Distefano  – Season 4

Cause of Death:  Burned/Drowned

What happened:  An unbalanced Victor kidnapped Suzanne and Heather aboard his yacht.  Before he could push them overboard, Brett arrived and saved the day.  Brett fired a flare gun at the deranged actor, catching him on fire and sending him overboard.   A  body was never found.

14.  Don Fenwick – Season 5

Cause of Death:   Fell out of a window

What happened:  Kyle’s adoptive father arrived in L.A. to cause havoc on Brooke Taylor, the daughter of his mortal enemy Royce Jenner.  During a confrontation with David in a hotel room at Moonshadows, both men went over the railing.  David managed to twist himself in mid air and land on top of Don, rendering him brain dead on impact. 

15.  Mike (Sunset Studios Security) – Season 5

Cause of Death:   Gunshot wound

Culprit:  Pacheco Cartel

What happened:  When the cast and crew of House of Palms were filming in Acapulco, their hotel was infiltrated by a drug cartel in the middle of the night.  Mike, everyone’s favorite three-hundred pound pussycat, was shot while trying to protect the others. 

16.  Cassidy Solomon – Season 5

Cause of Death:  Gunshot wound

Culprit:  Pacheco Cartel

What happened:  The aging soap diva was in the wrong place at the wrong time when the Pacheco cartel came looking for Brooke Taylor.  Having changed rooms in the middle of the night and insisting on anonymity, she opened the door and found the barrel of a gun pointing at her head.   

17.  Eric Autumn – Season 5

Cause of Death:  Gunshot wound

Culprit:  Pacheco Cartel

What happened:  World renowned director who walked in just as Cassidy Solomon was gunned down.  Another case of bad timing as he was shot and killed and then shoved in the trunk of a car along with Cassidy. 

18.  Rob Silva  - Season 5

Cause of Death:  Explosion

Culprit:  Bryan Carlson

What happened:  CFO of Merteuil Industries Rob Silva found out about a shipping deal Bryan Carlson made with the Pacheco Cartel.  He was on vacation with his family when his speedboat blew up with him in it, a coverup administered by the money-hungry Bryan Carlson.

19.  Devon Graham  - Season 5

Cause of Death:  Push out of a hotel window

Culprit:  Bryan Carlson

What happened:  After being released from prison, Devon returned to L.A. and immediately hooked up with her old partner Brett Armstrong.  Brett used Devon to get information out of Bryan Carlson.  After sleeping with Bryan, Devon did manage to get the dirt, but suffered as a result when he (ironically) threw her out of the hotel room window.

20.  Bryan Carlson - Season 5

Cause of Death:  Gunshot wound

Culprit:  FBI

What happened:  After Jackie announced in a press conference that Bryan was behind the kidnappings and murders in Acapulco, he went after her, cornering her in her office at Merteuil Industries.  Before he could do her harm, however, he was gunned down by an FBI agent. 

21.  Jeff Branigan - Season 5

Cause of Death:  Struck by a car

What happened:  A smarmy drug dealer who met his maker when he and Benji got into a brawl on the street outside Magnum Rainer's birthday party.  Jeff had given a pill to Summer to give to Sierra, which inadvertantly caused her to react violently.  Summer told Benji Jeff gave the pill to Sierra, prompting the argument.  Benji pushed Sierra to safety but it was Jeff who perished when a car slammed into him.